"The corporation has certain image requirements that you have to meet periodically," said franchisee Larry W. Kohler, who owns the Cranberry Highway Burger King in Wareham.

Four local Burger King restaurants recently have undergone, or are in the middle of, revamping lighting, remodeling dining rooms and, in one case, rebuilding the entire place from the ground up.

"They always want us to remodel year after year, add something new," said Janice M. Matthews, vice president of The Jan Companies, a Rhode Island firm that owns and is rebuilding the Burger King on Route 6 in Dartmouth and remodeling a New Bedford location on Cove Road.

The Cove Road location suffered significant damage from an electrical fire in November and the company decided to keep it closed until the dining room could be enhanced, Matthews said. The location is expected to reopen by the end of this month, she added.

The Burger King on Tarkiln Hill in New Bedford, also owned by Jan Companies, also remodeled its dining room and slapped a new, brighter facade on the building earlier this year, Matthews said.

The Dartmouth Burger King should be rebuilt by the end of January, she said.

The Wareham restaurant on Cranberry Highway plans to jazz up its look, as well, although Kohler isn't sure when that's going to happen.

Fairhaven's Burger King declined to comment.

Each revamp is different but many of them are trending toward "maximizing current conditions," meaning more drive-through space and less square footage in the dining room in many cases, Kohler said.

The Miami-based burger giant boasted more than 12,000 restaurants in 73 countries at the end of 2011.

The company declined to answer whether it required that franchisees revamp their restaurants or whether there was a deadline for the remodeling to be finished.

Burger King, which has always trailed fast-food giant McDonald's in sales, recently lost its second-place standing to competitor Wendy's. Wendy's had $8.5 billion in sales for 2011, compared to Burger King's $8.4 billion. McDonald's ruled the roost with $34.2 billion, according to Bloomberg.com.